Patents by Inventor Anand S. Murthy

Anand S. Murthy has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220059656
    Abstract: Techniques and methods related to strained NMOS and PMOS devices without relaxed substrates, systems incorporating such semiconductor devices, and methods therefor may include a semiconductor device that may have both n-type and p-type semiconductor bodies. Both types of semiconductor bodies may be formed from an initially strained semiconductor material such as silicon germanium. A silicon cladding layer may then be provided at least over or on the n-type semiconductor body. In one example, a lower portion of the semiconductor bodies is formed by a Si extension of the wafer or substrate. By one approach, an upper portion of the semiconductor bodies, formed of the strained SiGe, may be formed by blanket depositing the strained SiGe layer on the Si wafer, and then etching through the SiGe layer and into the Si wafer to form the semiconductor bodies or fins with the lower and upper portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2021
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Inventors: Stephen M. Cea, Roza Kotlyar, Harold W. Kennel, Anand S. Murthy, Glenn A. Glass, Kelin J. Kuhn, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11251302
    Abstract: Epitaxial oxide plugs are described for imposing strain on a channel region of a proximate channel region of a transistor. The oxide plugs form epitaxial and coherent contact with one or more source and drain regions adjacent to the strained channel region. The epitaxial oxide plugs can be used to either impart strain to an otherwise unstrained channel region (e.g., for a semiconductor body that is unstrained relative to an underlying buffer layer), or to restore, maintain, or increase strain within a channel region of a previously strained semiconductor body. The epitaxial crystalline oxide plugs have a perovskite crystal structure in some embodiments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Karthik Jambunathan, Biswajeet Guha, Anupama Bowonder, Anand S. Murthy, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11251281
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for forming transistor devices having reduced parasitic contact resistance relative to conventional devices. The techniques can be implemented, for example, using a standard contact stack such as a series of metals on, for example, silicon or silicon germanium (SiGe) source/drain regions. In accordance with one example such embodiment, an intermediate boron doped germanium layer is provided between the source/drain and contact metals to significantly reduce contact resistance. Numerous transistor configurations and suitable fabrication processes will be apparent in light of this disclosure, including both planar and non-planar transistor structures (e.g., FinFETs), as well as strained and unstrained channel structures. Graded buffering can be used to reduce misfit dislocation. The techniques are particularly well-suited for implementing p-type devices, but can be used for n-type devices if so desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11233148
    Abstract: Integrated circuit transistor structures are disclosed that reduce band-to-band tunneling between the channel region and the source/drain region of the transistor, without adversely increasing the extrinsic resistance of the device. In an example embodiment, the structure includes one or more spacer configured to separate the source and/or drain from the channel region. The spacer(s) regions comprise a semiconductor material that provides a relatively high conduction band offset (CBO) and a relatively low valence band offset (VBO) for PMOS devices, and a relatively high VBO and a relatively low CBO for NMOS devices. In some cases, the spacer includes silicon, germanium, and carbon (e.g., for devices having germanium channel). The proportions may be at least 10% silicon by atomic percentage, at least 85% germanium by atomic percentage, and at least 1% carbon by atomic percentage. Other embodiments are implemented with III-V materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Benjamin Chu-Kung, Jack T. Kavalieros, Seung Hoon Sung, Siddharth Chouksey, Harold W. Kennel, Dipanjan Basu, Ashish Agrawal, Glenn A. Glass, Tahir Ghani, Anand S. Murthy
  • Patent number: 11232948
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for a layered substrate. A layered substrate may include a core comprising graphite. The layered substrate may also include a coating layer comprising a coating material that surrounds the core, wherein the coating material has a melting point that is greater than a melting point of silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy
  • Patent number: 11222977
    Abstract: Integrated circuit transistor structures are disclosed that reduce n-type dopant diffusion, such as phosphorous or arsenic, from the source region and the drain region of a germanium n-MOS device into adjacent shallow trench isolation (STI) regions during fabrication. The n-MOS transistor device may include at least 75% germanium by atomic percentage. In an example embodiment, the structure includes an intervening diffusion barrier deposited between the n-MOS transistor and the STI region to provide dopant diffusion reduction. In some embodiments, the diffusion barrier may include silicon dioxide with carbon concentrations between 5 and 50% by atomic percentage. In some embodiments, the diffusion barrier may be deposited using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques to achieve a diffusion barrier thickness in the range of 1 to 5 nanometers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Karthik Jambunathan, Cory C. Bomberger, Tahir Ghani, Jack T. Kavalieros, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Seung Hoon Sung, Siddharth Chouksey
  • Patent number: 11205707
    Abstract: Systems and methods of optimizing a gate profile for performance and gate fill are disclosed. A semiconductor device having an optimized gate profile includes a semiconductor substrate and a fin extending above the semiconductor substrate. A pair of source and drain regions are disposed on opposite sides of a channel region. A gate stack is disposed over the channel region, where the gate stack includes a top portion separated from a bottom portion by a tapered portion. The top portion and at least a portion of the tapered portion are disposed above the fin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Nadia M. Rahhal-Orabi, Tahir Ghani, Willy Rachmady, Matthew V. Metz, Jack T. Kavalieros, Gilbert Dewey, Anand S. Murthy, Chandra S. Mohapatra
  • Patent number: 11195919
    Abstract: Techniques and methods related to strained NMOS and PMOS devices without relaxed substrates, systems incorporating such semiconductor devices, and methods therefor may include a semiconductor device that may have both n-type and p-type semiconductor bodies. Both types of semiconductor bodies may be formed from an initially strained semiconductor material such as silicon germanium. A silicon cladding layer may then be provided at least over or on the n-type semiconductor body. In one example, a lower portion of the semiconductor bodies is formed by a Si extension of the wafer or substrate. By one approach, an upper portion of the semiconductor bodies, formed of the strained SiGe, may be formed by blanket depositing the strained SiGe layer on the Si wafer, and then etching through the SiGe layer and into the Si wafer to form the semiconductor bodies or fins with the lower and upper portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen M. Cea, Roza Kotlyar, Harold W. Kennel, Anand S. Murthy, Glenn A. Glass, Kelin J. Kuhn, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11189730
    Abstract: Integrated circuit transistor structures and processes are disclosed that reduce n-type dopant diffusion, such as phosphorous or arsenic, from the source region and the drain region of a germanium n-MOS device into adjacent channel regions during fabrication. The n-MOS transistor device may include at least 70% germanium (Ge) by atomic percentage. In an example embodiment, source and drain regions of the transistor are formed using a low temperature, non-selective deposition process of n-type doped material. In some embodiments, the low temperature deposition process is performed in the range of 450 to 600 degrees C. The resulting structure includes a layer of doped mono-crystyalline silicon (Si), or silicon germanium (SiGe), on the source/drain regions. The structure also includes a layer of doped amorphous Si:P (or SiGe:P) on the surfaces of a shallow trench isolation (STI) region and the surfaces of contact trench sidewalls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Karthik Jambunathan, Cory C. Bomberger, Tahir Ghani, Jack T. Kavalieros, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Seung Hoon Sung, Siddharth Chouksey
  • Patent number: 11177255
    Abstract: Embodiments include a first nanowire transistor having a first source and a first drain with a first channel in between, where the first channel includes a first III-V alloy. A first gate stack is around the first channel, where a portion of the first gate stack is between the first channel and a substrate. The first gate stack includes a gate electrode metal in contact with a gate dielectric. A second nanowire transistor is on the substrate, having a second source and a second drain with a second channel therebetween, the second channel including a second III-V alloy. A second gate stack is around the second channel, where an intervening material is between the second gate stack and the substrate, the intervening material including a third III-V alloy. The second gate stack includes the gate electrode metal in contact with the gate dielectric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sean T. Ma, Willy Rachmady, Gilbert Dewey, Matthew V. Metz, Harold W. Kennel, Cheng-Ying Huang, Jack T. Kavalieros, Anand S. Murthy, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11171207
    Abstract: A transistor includes a body of semiconductor material with a gate structure in contact with a portion of the body. A source region contacts the body adjacent the gate structure and a drain region contacts the body adjacent the gate structure such that the portion of the body is between the source region and the drain region. A first isolation region is under the source region and has a top surface in contact with a bottom surface of the source region. A second isolation region is under the drain region and has a top surface in contact with a bottom surface of the drain region. Depending on the transistor configuration, a major portion of the inner-facing sidewalls of the first and second isolation regions contact respective sidewalls of either a subfin structure (e.g., FinFET transistor configurations) or a lower portion of a gate structure (e.g., gate-all-around transistor configuration).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Willy Rachmady, Cheng-Ying Huang, Matthew V. Metz, Nicholas G. Minutillo, Sean T. Ma, Anand S. Murthy, Jack T. Kavalieros, Tahir Ghani, Gilbert Dewey
  • Patent number: 11171057
    Abstract: Fin-based transistor structures, such as finFET and nanowire transistor structures, are disclosed. The fins have a morphology including a wave pattern and/or one or more ridges and/or nodules which effectively mitigate fin collapse, by limiting the inter-fin contact during a fin collapse condition. Thus, while the fins may temporarily collapse during wet processing, the morphology allows the collapsed fins to recover back to their uncollapsed state upon drying. The fin morphology may be, for example, an undulating pattern having peaks and troughs (e., sine, triangle, or ramp waves). In such cases, the undulating patterns of neighboring fins are out of phase, such that inter-fin contact during fin collapse is limited to peak/trough contact. In other embodiments, one or more ridges or nodules (short ridges), depending on the length of the fin, effectively limit the amount of inter-fin contact during fin collapse, such that only the ridges/nodules contact the neighboring fin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Chytra Pawashe, Anand S. Murthy, Daniel Pantuso, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11171058
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for customization of fin-based transistor devices to provide a diverse range of channel configurations and/or material systems within the same integrated circuit die. In accordance with one example embodiment, sacrificial fins are removed and replaced with custom semiconductor material of arbitrary composition and strain suitable for a given application. In one such case, each of a first set of the sacrificial fins is recessed or otherwise removed and replaced with a p-type material, and each of a second set of the sacrificial fins is recessed or otherwise removed and replaced with an n-type material. The p-type material can be completely independent of the process for the n-type material, and vice-versa. Numerous other circuit configurations and device variations are enabled using the techniques provided herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Daniel B. Aubertine, Anand S. Murthy, Gaurav Thareja, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11164747
    Abstract: Group III-V semiconductor devices having asymmetric source and drain structures and their methods of fabrication are described. In an example, an integrated circuit structure includes a gallium arsenide layer on a substrate. A channel structure is on the gallium arsenide layer. The channel structure includes indium, gallium and arsenic. A source structure is at a first end of the channel structure and a drain structure is at a second end of the channel structure. The drain structure has a wider band gap than the source structure. A gate structure is over the channel structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sean T. Ma, Gilbert Dewey, Willy Rachmady, Harold W. Kennel, Cheng-Ying Huang, Matthew V. Metz, Nicholas G. Minutillo, Jack T. Kavalieros, Anand S. Murthy
  • Patent number: 11152361
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for achieving multiple fin dimensions on a single die or semiconductor substrate. In some cases, multiple fin dimensions are achieved by lithographically defining (e.g., hardmasking and patterning) areas to be trimmed using a trim etch process, leaving the remainder of the die unaffected. In some such cases, the trim etch is performed on only the channel regions of the fins, when such channel regions are re-exposed during a replacement gate process. The trim etch may narrow the width of the fins being trimmed (or just the channel region of such fins) by 2-6 nm, for example. Alternatively, or in addition, the trim may reduce the height of the fins. The techniques can include any number of patterning and trimming processes to enable a variety of fin dimensions and/or fin channel dimensions on a given die, which may be useful for integrated circuit and system-on-chip (SOC) applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy
  • Publication number: 20210305367
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are source/drain regions in integrated circuit (IC) structures, as well as related methods and components. For example, in some embodiments, an IC structure may include: a channel region including a first semiconductor wire and a second semiconductor wire; and a source/drain region proximate to the channel region, wherein the source/drain region includes a first semiconductor portion proximate to an end of the first semiconductor wire, the source/drain region includes a second semiconductor portion proximate to an end of the second semiconductor wire, and the source/drain region includes a contact metal at least partially between the first semiconductor portion and the second semiconductor portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Applicant: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sean T. Ma, Anand S. Murthy, Glenn A. Glass, Biswajeet Guha
  • Patent number: 11121030
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for forming transistors employing a carbon-based etch stop layer (ESL) for preserving source and drain (S/D) material during contact trench etch processing. As can be understood based on this disclosure, carbon-based layers can provide increased resistance for etch processing, such that employing a carbon-based ESL on S/D material can preserve that S/D material during contact trench etch processing. This is due to carbon-based layers being able to provide more robust (e.g., more selective) etch selectivity during contact trench etch processing than the S/D material it is preserving (e.g., Si, SiGe, Ge, group III-V semiconductor material) and other etch stop layers (e.g., insulator material-based etch stop layers). Employing a carbon-based ESL enables a given S/D region to protrude from shallow trench isolation (STI) material prior to contact metal deposition, thereby providing more surface area for making contact to the given S/D region, which improves transistor performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Karthik Jambunathan, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Seung Hoon Sung, Jack T. Kavalieros, Tahir Ghani
  • Patent number: 11107890
    Abstract: An apparatus is described. The apparatus includes a FINFET device having a channel. The channel is composed of a first semiconductor material that is epitaxially grown on a subfin structure beneath the channel. The subfin structure is composed of a second semiconductor material that is different than the first semiconductor material. The subfin structure is epitaxially grown on a substrate composed of a third semiconductor material that is different than the first and second semiconductor materials. The subfin structure has a doped region to substantially impede leakage currents between the channel and the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Gilbert Dewey, Matthew V. Metz, Willy Rachmady, Anand S. Murthy, Chandra S. Mohapatra, Tahir Ghani, Sean T. Ma, Jack T. Kavalieros
  • Patent number: 11101356
    Abstract: Integrated circuit transistor structures are disclosed that reduce n-type dopant diffusion, such as phosphorous or arsenic, from the source region and the drain region of a germanium n-MOS device into adjacent insulator regions during fabrication. The n-MOS transistor device may include at least 75% germanium by atomic percentage. In an example embodiment, a dopant-rich insulator cap is deposited adjacent to the source and/or drain regions, to provide dopant diffusion reduction. In some embodiments, the dopant-rich insulator cap is doped with an n-type impurity including Phosphorous in a concentration between 1 and 10% by atomic percentage. In some embodiments, the dopant-rich insulator cap may have a thickness in the range of 10 to 100 nanometers and a height in the range of 10 to 200 nanometers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Karthik Jambunathan, Cory C. Bomberger, Tahir Ghani, Jack T. Kavalieros, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Seung Hoon Sung, Siddharth Chouksey
  • Patent number: 11101350
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for forming germanium (Ge)-rich channel transistors including one or more dopant diffusion barrier elements. The introduction of one or more dopant diffusion elements into at least a portion of a given source/drain (S/D) region helps inhibit the undesired diffusion of dopant (e.g., B, P, or As) into the adjacent Ge-rich channel region. In some embodiments, the elements that may be included in a given S/D region to help prevent the undesired dopant diffusion include at least one of tin and relatively high silicon. Further, in some such embodiments, carbon may also be included to help prevent the undesired dopant diffusion. In some embodiments, the one or more dopant diffusion barrier elements may be included in an interfacial layer between a given S/D region and the Ge-rich channel region and/or throughout at least a majority of a given S/D region. Numerous embodiments, configurations, and variations will be apparent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Glenn A. Glass, Anand S. Murthy, Karthik Jambunathan, Benjamin Chu-Kung, Seung Hoon Sung, Jack T. Kavalieros, Tahir Ghani, Harold W. Kennel